The Old Ones
'The Old Ones''' were the first existing, strongest, and most powerful vampires in the world. They are the progenitors of the vampire species; all vampires in existence are descended from them. They possessed little to no weaknesses, except for the Principal Guardian's blood. History Origin The origin of the Old Ones, and subsequently the vampire race as a whole, remains a mystery. It is known that the Old Ones are the first vampires, as well as the most feared and powerful of all in existence. They were never human and have existed long before the pyramids were built, over 3,000 years ago. It is unknown when and how the Old Ones came to be, even the Old Ones themselves cannot recall their beginning, but Klaus says that his first memory is related to the Bronze Age (between 4500-3200 BC). Chronologically, the Old Ones could be involved with the first vampiric Mesopotamian deities, as well as its surroundings (according to the description given in Destiny Rising, the Old Ones have a dominant personality, slavery, and cruel to the humans). In the series, The Return, deceased vampires are sent to the Netherworld, a purgatory for the spirits of vampires. Many millennia ago, before humans needed middle names to identify themselves, the Old Ones appeared in the human world, causing terror, destruction and endless battles. The only beings capable of stopping the original vampires were the Principal Guardians, the first beings of goodness and light. The confrontation between the Old Ones and the Principal Guardians as well as their descendants has lasted until today. In the books, the Old Ones do not stay together, Klaus arrived alone to Fell's Church and participated in major battles in history, but he mentions that it is one of the Old Ones, the Originals, confirmed that there are more of them. ''The Fury After Katherine fails in her plan to destroy Stefan, Damon, and Elena in the town of Fell's Church, Klaus comes to town to avenge the death of Katherine. This caused serious consequences for the town protagonists and ghosts because Klaus corrupted Elena's messages directly, and immersed the whole town in an abnormal and gloomy environment. Dark Reunion After his arrival, Klaus remains in the old cemetery where Katherine was. For a while, the Old One caused pain to Meredith and Bonnie, because he modified the ghost of Elena's messages in a horrible and sadistic way. To strike terror and fear into the hearts of the Protagonists, Klaus forced Tyler Smallwood to kill Sue (thus activating the curse of the werewolf). The situation does not improve, and Bonnie decides to invoke Stefan, and Damon accompanies him. After having a small talk with Stefan and Damon, Bonnie, Meredith and Matt join them to protect Vickie. However, Stefan decides to investigate more about what happens, and Matt accompanies him to the library. Upon discovering the existence of werewolves, Stefan plans to catch Tyler and intends to use Meredith as bait. Tyler is defeated, and reveals the existence of Klaus. Unfortunately, during the fight with Tyler, Klaus took the opportunity to go for Vickie. Controlling her mind, Klaus killed her in a vile and sadistic way. Bonnie and Stefan decide to contact Elena, where she reveals a survivor of one of Klaus' attacks long ago. However, she reveals the survivor's identity, Klaus comes to torture Elena, but Stefan stands and faces him. Elena says he has to find the survivor. Stefan fills Bonnie, Meredith, Matt in on the survivor. Meredith remembers her grandfather, who used to talk of vampires and told her about how he was attacked by one. They travel to the hospital where the old man remains. During the visit, the old man reveals the weakness of the Old One, but when Stefan decides to fight Klaus, he says he wants to do it alone. Disregarding this, Bonnie, Matt and Meredith go anyway. During the final confrontation, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Elena, and ghosts, fight against Klaus, while Meredith, Matt and Caroline fight against Tyler. Klaus is sent to an unknown place by ghosts, to prevent the Old One could hurt someone again, and Tyler runs away to find that one of the most powerful of the vampires was defeated. The Hunters: Destiny Rising Ethan Crane manages to bring back the essence of Klaus, and the Old One takes control of the body of Cristian Sulez. The Salvation Series ''Now that the lethal properties of Elena's blood have been discovered, Stefan has been risking it all to destroy the almighty Old Ones. Elena, Stefan, Meredith, Alaric, Bonnie, Zander, Katherine, Damon, and Matt have joined forces to find and destroy the Old Ones once and for all. Elena, Stefan, Meredith along with Katherine, Damon and Zander have managed to destroy three Old Ones (Klaus, Davos and Celine) during the last five years. However, after millennia of existence and see that the other Old Ones were falling one by one, the most powerful of all ancient vampires decides to destroy the principal guardians' descendants (as Elena Gilbert and Andrew Montez). Vampiric Tree The Old Ones List of Known Old Ones *'Klaus' is the first Old One to appear in the novels and the most dangerous of the Ancients. He is described as being handsome although his features are often contorted in madness. Personality wise, Klaus is extremely deranged, and the line between his evil and his madnesss are very blurry. Physically Klaus is described as being very handsome, very tall and very Nordic in physical appearance, with piercing electric blue eyes and short, close-cropped white-platinum blond hair. Not much is known about the origin of Klaus, but he appeared on the planet long before the pyramids of Egypt. Klaus arrives in Fell's Church, where he helps Tyler become a werewolf, to avenge the murder of Katherine. Klaus almost kills Stefan and also, nearly kills Damon as well until there is an intervention from Elena's spirit, leading an army of Civil War ghosts. The ghosts carry a screaming Klaus away, and his body is completely destroyed, but his essence/soul/spirit remains exist in the world. The Vitale Society was used as a plan to resurrect him. *'Cristian Sulez' is the last Old One that appears in The Hunters Series. Technically, Cristian becomes an Old One after being possessed by the essence of Klaus. Unfortunately, Cristian and Klaus are destroyed by Meredith and Elena, resulting in Cristian's death. *'Davos' is mentioned in a list of Old Ones that Stefan and Meredith fought. Curiously not included on the Lifetime Solutions list. According to the Elena's words, Meredith, Stefan, and possibly Zander, Damon and Katherine, tracked other Old Ones, achieving find Davos. Davos was a powerful Old One, but his overconfidence and underestimation to Elena and her friends caused his destruction. *'Celine' is the only female pureblood vampire confirmed so far. She was an Old One, one of the Original vampires—an ancient, vicious monster who’d stalked the night of every continent for countless centuries. Celine had seen civilizations rise from tiny villages to great cities and then fall into ashes, over and over again. She was destroyed by Stefan and Meredith. *'Solomon' is the deadliest of the Ancients. Solomon is determined to kill Elena and he just might end up being powerful enough to do it. Solomon is strong and smart, and he's practically an invisible force in town, only making his presence known when he wants to be. Destroyed by Stefan. *'Benevenuto' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. *'Alexander' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. *'Chihiro' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. *'Gunnar of the North' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. *'Milimo' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. *'Pachacuti' is one of the old ones killed before the series by guardians and hunters. Allies *'Katherine von Swartzschild' - A vampire over 500 years of age, born in the Old World in Germany during the fifteenth century. Katherine is literally the female counterpart of Klaus. She strongly physically resembles Elena, but this is because Katherine is Elena's maternal half sister. She has very light, golden blonde hair, dark blue eyes, is petite and fragile, and she is very beautiful. She is described as naive, gentle, polite, docile and lacking in the understanding of dark power. However, after she planned her fake death against the Salvatore brothers, she ran away to Germany, only to be corrupted by Klaus, becoming an extremely vindictive, sadistic, evil, cruel and resentful individual. Katherine was saved by Klaus, and since then she has shown gratitude. *'Ethan Crane' - The leader of a Vitale Secret Society of Dalcrest College. He is one of the descendants of Klaus, and his goal is the resurrection of the Old One. During the stay at Dalcrest College, Matt joined the group and tried to get Stefan to join the society as well. Bonnie meets a werewolf named Zander who tries to stop Ethan at all costs. To return to Klaus, it requires the blood of the descendants, and that includes Stefan and Damon, both of whom are vampires who were turned by Katherine, whom was of Klaus' bloodline.After a short fight between Stefan and Ethan, Klaus finally resurrected. Ethan knelt in front of the naked body of the powerful vampire origins and uttered one word: Klaus. This is so impressed that he did not foresee the gesture Klaus: he tore his head. *'Ancient Servants' - A group of vampires sired by Klaus, and were revived along with Katherine, because they were destroyed long ago. In the novel, it is mentioned that these vampires are the darlings of the Old One, as a vicious vampire family. Stefan: Could these be all of vampires that Klaus had turned throughout his existence? All gathered together like some kind of vicious tribe, some kind of family? And had Klaus used their blood to resurrect Katherine, to raise his most beloved child as he himself had been raised? *'The Devil' - A fallen rebel archangel who was cast out of heaven for leading the revolt of the angels. He is mentioned in the original novels, the Return series and the Hunters series. According to some characters, he was an angel before being exiled and cursed by the Celestial Court. Klaus is an apparent ally of the Devil and possibly even his closest friend. It's not fully established what kind of relationship there is between the two of them, but Klaus makes it no secret about the two of them sharing some kind of alliance. He even speaks of the pact that was made between them a long time ago with Tyler Smallwood in Dark Reunion. Personalities The Old Ones are described to be extremely powerful, very strong, and very intelligent. However, all of them are known to be very malevolent , violent, sadistic, cold and sinister. In Destiny Rising, it is mentioned that if not for the Guardians, the entire planet would be enslaved and dominated by the Old Ones. Because they are the first vampires have many powers and abilities that are not normal vampires, it is for this reason that the Old Ones are often arrogants, overconfident and tend to treat their enemies as toys or beings very inferior to them. However, when an Old One discovers that it can be hurt or destroyed, its personality changes drastically, proving to be extremely powerful, destructive, and deadliest. In their own twisted way the Old Ones were also capable of "love". The ancients on rare occasions could feel affection or loyalty to other beings, but because of their powers, experiences, desires, and arrogance they were "blinded" by their own powers and immortality, avoiding their true emotions and feelings can be expressed to other beings. Physical Appearances The Old Ones were never human, but have a human physical form. It has not been revealed whether or not they have another form besides their human one. In The Hunters Series and Salvation Series, the Old Ones are described as humans with a very attractive physical appearance, charming, polite, but surrounded by an evil and sinister aura. Age The true age and origin of The Old Ones is a mystery, however, Klaus makes various references about his past. *Klaus' earliest memory is of carrying a bronze ax, placing his inception in the Bronze Age (4500 BC - 3200 BC). *Klaus mentioned that he existed long ago before the pyramids were built (3200 BC to 2500 BC). *He fought in the Trojan War (1194 BC to 1184 BC). *Klaus was part of Alexander the Great's army (336 BC - 326 BC). *He was witnessed the death of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC. *Klaus was witness to the construction of the Coliseum (70 AD - 80 AD) *He was present in the wars that led to the Roman Empire's downfall (on the Germanic side) in AD 456. *In the late 15th century, Klaus lived in a village in Germany, where the people thought that he was the devil himself. All events mentioned by Klaus, are part of the history of the Old World (mainly Europe). Powers & Abilities As the first and oldest vampires, the Old One's abilities are the most advanced. Basic Vampire Abilities These are their standard abilities as vampires. *'Mind Compulsion' - The supernatural ability to control and manipulate the body, mind, and soul of an animal or person. *'Weather Manipulation' - The supernatural ability allows influence meteorological energy patterns, creating rain, wind, hail, lightning, snow, sleet, fog and temperature changes. *'Elemental Control' - The supernatural ability to control and manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire, water, lightning, etc. *'Animal Control' - The supernatural ability can handle all kinds of wild animals or domestic. Normally you can only control a species at a time. *'Healing Factor' - The supernatural ability to heal all infections and injuries at an accelerated speed. *'Immortality' - The Old Ones were at least 3,000 years old and maintained the appearance of young adults. *'Super Senses' - The supernatural ability to hear, see, smell, and taste beyond the human limit. *'Shapeshifting' - The supernatural ability to alter and change the physical form of oneself. *'Super Speed' - The Old Ones could potentially move faster than even elder vampires can see; able to reach speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. *'Super Strength' - Being the primordial vampires, their strength was immense, even when compared to elder vampires. *'Illusion Casting' - They are capable of disrupting the reality of one or more things at once. The Illusion is limited, since it uses a short time but because the neutralization of the enemy and does not usually give orders to the victims. *'Telepathy' - The supernatural ability can communicate mentally with other vampires without physical contact and long distances. Old One Abilities These abilities are exclusive to them. *'Vampire Weakness Immunity' - The Old Ones can not be destroyed by sunlight, fire, wood, werewolf bite, decapitation, extraction of heart, etc. The only thing that could hurt them is the White Ash Wood, and the Principal Guardian's blood can kill an Old One. *'Aura' - A subtle, "luminous radiation" that surrounds an Old One that could alter the emotions and energy levels of himself and others. The Old One can generate aura within oneself. The aura is created from the power, longevity, strength and personality/emotions of the ancient vampire. The color varies according to each Old One, but in general are pure colors, but with the bloody red color, giving the feeling of evil and fear of anyone approaching the ancient vampire. *'Self-Resurrection' - The supernatural ability to return from the dead. In order to resurrect an Old One, they need the blood of their descendants. In case the body was destroyed, it is possible that the spirit of the Old One occupies one of his/her descendant's body. Weaknesses *'Uninvited:' A vampire cannot enter a home inside which they have not been invited. *'Running Water:' A vampire can not cross running water but can tunnel beneath it. *'Veil Matter (Ghosts and Spirits): ' A vampire can not hurt and defeat a ghost. But ghosts can manifest and send a vampire to a place where they can not do more damage. *'White Oak Tree: '''It is known that the ashes of the white oak tree can hurt an old one. It's presumed an actual stake made of a white oak tree can hurt an Old One. *'Principal Guardian's Blood:' The pureblood vampires can only be completely destroyed if they ingest the blood of a Principal Guardian or its descendant. (''silver spikes at the ends of each stake.) Names The names of the three Old Ones confirmed so far are related to situations involving the positive or welfare. This is considered to be ironic, because they are extremely evil and cruel beings. *'Klaus' is of Greek origin, means "people of victory" or "victory of the people". *'Davos' is of Latin origin, means "gorge". *'Celine' is of Latin origin, means "heaven". *'Solomon' is of Hebrew origin, means "peace" or "welfare". *'Benevenuto' is Italian origin, means "welcome". *'Alexander' is Greek origin, means "defender". *'Chihiro' is of Japanese origin, means "a thousand questions". *'Gunnar of the North' is of Nordic origin, means "fighter". *'Milimo' is of African origin, means "work". *'Pachacuti' in Quechua means "He who shakes the earth". TV Series Officially, the Old Ones do not appear in the series, however they were replaced by the casting of the first immortals and the first vampires. Silas-CastPortal.png|Silas Amara.png|Amara Mikael%27s_bloodline.jpg|Mikael Esthertreefamily.png|Esther Unknown.jpg|Firstborn Elijah%27s_bloodline.jpg|Elijah Finn%27s_bloodline.jpg|Finn Niklaus%27_bloodline.jpg|Niklaus Kol%27s_bloodline.jpg|Kol Rebekah%27s_bloodline.jpg|Rebekah Henriktreefamily.png|Henrik *'Silas' is the very first immortal being and the world's first immortal man. Silas was born sometime between 2nd century B.C. and 1st century B.C in Ancient Greece. Silas is a true immortal. Before he became truly immortal, Silas was one of the most powerful warlocks ever. Silas became immortal because he wanted to spend an eternity with his true love and the world's first immortal woman, Amara. Silas is currently the most powerful immortal and the dangerous being, and overall one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the series universe (it is unclear whether he is more powerful than Qetsiyah as a witch). Unlike the Mikaelson Family, who are based off or a minor expy of The Old Ones, Silas is the closest to be considered a true Old One of the novels. *'Amara' was the world's very first immortal woman. Amara was born in 1st century B.C. in Ancient Greece. She was Silas', the world's first immortal man, true love. Before becoming truly immortal alongside Silas, Amara was a human. Amara became immortal in order to spend an eternity with her true love Silas. Unfortunately, Amara was cured of her immortality and killed by Qetsiyah, a very powerful witch who was also in love with Silas and who has originally created the spell of immortality alongside Silas, who was also a very powerful warlock. Amara (and Silas) is the closest to be considered to a true Old One of the novels before she was cured of her immortality and killed by Qetsiyah. *'Klaus' is late-20's to mid-30's. He’s handsome, charming, intelligent, with a sharp wit. He’s the only person who can out-Damon Damon. That’s because he’s got a thousand years on him. Klaus is one of the Originals. Possibly the oldest. But you’d never know it because he keeps up with the times. He kills past lover Amy. He goes to Mystic Grill and sits down next to Alaric. He asks for a favor, and tells Alaric who he is. Alaric says that he can’t be compelled. Klaus tells him that he’s right, vervain affects Originals. He then tells Alaric about meeting a cute, blonde woman that afternoon. She was studying for her masters in Psychology. Her name was Jenna. Alaric moves to get up but Klaus stops him, saying he hasn’t done anything to her yet…except tear a few chunks out of her neck and put her in the trunk of his car where she’s currently bleeding to death. Then, he says “So about that favor.” In the TV series, Klaus was removed and appears Niklaus. *'Amy' is sexy, late 20's fangbanger vampire groupie comes home to her apartment to find Klaus on her sofa. Dated and slept with Klaus in the past. Klaus tells her the reason he’s there is because she’s been talking about him. Amy tries to deny it, but Klaus says that he saw her at the bar earlier in the night, talking to Damon Salvatore about him. He advances towards her, she backs away, pleading for her life. In the TV series, Amy was removed and appears Esther. *'Phillipe' was an Original vampire who wanted Elena for unknown reasons and one of his servants kidnapped Elena in 2010 in order to entice him. In the TV series, Phillipe was removed and appears Elijah. *'Adrienne' was a vampire, possibly an Original, who was greatly feared by others. Elena disguised Alice as Katherine Pierce in order to find out about her. Elena and Rose went looking for Adrienne, and found her not long after. Cody Webber later arrived in search of Elena, and had to confront Adrienne, James and Rose/Lucy to get to her. However, Adrienne ripped out his heart to stop him. In the TV series, Adrienne was removed and appears Rebekah. *'James' was a very old and powerful vampire, as well as a good friend of Rose. Apparently, he knew Adrienne and Klaus. In the TV series, James was removed and appears Finn. *'Eric' was a very mysterious man who appears to be hunting vampires, most specifically Klaus. For some reason, Klaus, who shouldn’t be afraid of anybody, seems to be concerned about this person. In the TV series, Eric was removed and appears Mikael. *'Aaron' was an Original vampire, who is the son of Mikael and Esther and also the brother of Rebekah, Finn and Henrik and the half-brother of Klaus. In the TV series, Aaron was removed and appears Kol. *'Henrick' was an Original vampire, and together with his family, he would appear in season three. In the TV series, Henrick was removed and appears Henrik. *'Firstborn' was the first and last member of the Mikaelson and he remains a mystery. Nothing is known about him except that he died in the old world, motivating that Mikael, Esther and Ayana travel to the new world. It is speculated that his name is Aaron, because the name is in the cave along with other family names, but not confirmed yet. Reality The name "The Old Ones" is a term that is used that may refer to deities or other ancients and powerful supernatural entities. A great many older religions may believe that "Old Ones" are beings that existed at the creation of the Universe, possibly considered to be deities or co-existing with Gods. It is uncommon, but not completely unheard of as a term for a creator being, though it should be noted that "Old One" would be the English term for a number of words in other languages. The term is most recognized in Cthulhu Mythos. Trivia *Klaus is the first Old One to appear in the novels. *Solomon is the last of the Old Ones. *Celine is the only female pureblood vampire confirmed so far. Chihiro is possibly a female Old One, because the name is used mostly for women, but in very rare occasions is used to men. *The names of The Old Ones come from different parts of the world (Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Oceania) *Chronologically, it isn't known which was the first Old One destroyed. Klaus along with Davos, Celine, and Solomon were the last Old Ones destroyed by Elena, Stefan, Meredith, Alaric, Bonnie, Zander, Damon, Katherine and the Original Pack. *It's presumed by Elena that Sage is an Old One, but it is never proven. *So far, all of the Old Ones that have appeared in the novels have been male. Celine made a brief appearance in Unseen, proving there are (or possibly she is the only one) female Old One. *The origin of The Old Ones are not fully described in the novels, however L.J. Smith once stated that The Old Ones were never human and that they were never born human, and that they are older than the Pyramids. *In Dark Reunion, Tyler mentions that Klaus had made a pact with "the Devil". However, it is not set if this pact is real or not with this information as well as the origin of Klaus and the Old Ones. *In comparison between the TV Series and the novel series, The Old Ones are much more powerful, strong, durable, and dangerous than regular vampires. Even when the body is destroyed, the essence of the Old One still exists and can be resurrected. *The Old Ones are now extinct after Solomon's death. *In the TV series, the werewolf Hayley Marshall calls Niklaus an Old One. **In the TV series, Davina Claire is the second one to refer to Niklaus, along with the rest of the Mikaelson Family, as The Old Ones. Tropes *The Old Ones are kept in the shadows and mystery. References See also Category:Novel Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Supernatural Category:The Old Ones Category:Vampires Category:Deceased Category:Groups Category:Species